Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Judges should not impose personal policy views into the Constitution.
In plain terms
Don't let personal beliefs dictate law.
What can you take from it?
Separate personal policy from judicial duty.

Where it applies

  • court decisions
  • legislation

Putting it to work

  • maintain judicial restraint

Questions to consider

  • Can a judge ever be unbiased?

Another view

It is hard to be completely neutral.

More from Felix Frankfurter

  1. Litigation is the pursuit of practical ends, not a game of chess.

    Permalink to quote #17
  2. Judicial judgment must take deep account...of the day before yesterday in order that yesterday may not paralyze today.

    Permalink to quote #19
  3. All our work, our whole life is a matter of semantics, because words are the tools with which we work, the material out of which laws are made, out of which th…

    Permalink to quote #16

Related quotes

  1. Justice should be cheap but judges expensive.

    A. P. HerbertA. P. Herbert quote #18
  2. The problem of cat versus bird is as old as time. If we attempt to resolve it by legislation who knows but what we may be called upon to take sides as well in …

    Adlai StevensonAdlai Stevenson quote #1
  3. There are no good laws but such as repeal other laws.

    Andrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson quote #1